THE Co-op store on Fog Lane has become Didsbury's second casualty in what has become known as the 'Tesco effect'.

The shop will close its doors following a dramatic fall in profits since a new Tesco store was opened in Burnage in 2005.

Other shops on Fog Lane are also said to be struggling, with customers preferring to bulk-buy at the supermarket giant's Burnage Lane store.

A Co--op spokesman said: "Our store at Fog Lane, Didsbury, has been trading unprofitably for some time. We cannot see a way to reverse that position.

"We announced to staff at the store last week that we intend to market the store for sale as a going concern. No closure date has been announced - that will be dependent on securing a suitable buyer."

The spokesman would not speculate on what led to the downturn in profits, but other shopkeepers on Fog Lane were quick to point to the so-called Tesco effect.

Mike Galloway, postmaster at the Fog Lane Post Office, said: "Tesco is having such a bad effect on local traders. Customers are drifting away in their dozens."

Mr Galloway said he had lost half his custom due to the 'Tesco effect'.

"They're not coming to the post office unless they absolutely have to," he said. "I have lost about half my business because Tesco is stocking greetings cards and stationery."

The next Fog Lane shop to be axed could well be the Pound Shop run by mother-and-son Marie O'Connor and Tommy Doyle.

Mr Doyle, who has run the convenience store for the past five years, said his business was unlikely to survive the next two years."I'd give us two years and then we're out," he said. "It's just ridiculous - I had another shop across the road called Super Buy, but I had to shut that down last year because of Tesco. When Tesco came my customer base just dwindled away. "

He added: "All the shops are suffering, everyone is in the same boat."

Paul Millington, owner of Corry's butchers, said: "Everybody has been affected. Once Tesco comes into an area nobody else stands a chance. Nobody knows how to stop it - it's like a juggernaut."

Earlier this year Didsbury Village Store, which had been one of the mainstays of the Didsbury shopping district since 1991, closed down citing the 'buy-all' effect of the big supermarket chains as one of the main reasons.

Traders in Chorlton are also trying to stop the supermarket giant opening a Tesco Express there saying it would harm the area's reputation for independent shops.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "It is very easy to put the blame on Tesco. There is no reason why supermarkets can't live side by side with smaller shops. Tesco normally fares better when there is local shops next to them. At the end of the day customers decide where they shop."